


Mane

by Iris13



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, F/F, Fix It Fic, Hair care, Lesbian Mom, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:55:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24170167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris13/pseuds/Iris13
Summary: Catra never had anyone to teach her things. After the war, she doesn’t know what to do or where to go. Netossa can’t handle seeing that frizzy mane any longer and decides she has to do something about it.Or Netossa being the lesbian mom these kids need. Happy ending.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Netossa (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 355





	Mane

**Author's Note:**

> If you grow up with curly or wavy hair around people with straight hair you probably don’t even know. Been seeing some fanart of Catra on tumblr where they interpret her hair as wavy or curly, so wanted to play with that. Netossa is the lesbian mom everyone deserves.
> 
> And then Noelle answered a QnA about how Netossa would be a good role model for Catra. So I just had to try and finish this before the final season airs. I hope you enjoy, and I hope we survive post-finale.

No one knew what to do with Catra after the war.

Most of the soldiers were pardoned for their war crimes. That was the work of Queen Glimmer, showing more maturity than Netossa had expected of her. It wasn’t usually Glimmer’s style to be so forgiving. But then again, much had happened after she became queen,and after she had defeated Horde Prime. And her good friend Adora, the mighty She-ra, was an ex-horde soldier. And Glimmer’s best friend Bow was very forgiving as a person. She was certain those friends had guided Queen Glimmer in some way. No matter why the decision was made, it did help pave the way forward. Peace is not the absence of war, it is the active choice to forgive. Being neighbours with someone who once tried to kill you or someone you love is not an easy thing.

Can you be friends with someone who was once your enemy?

Queen Glimmer had told them that it was their peacetime mission to try.

Most of the Horde soldiers had returned with Scorpia to rebuild her former kingdom. And some, though not as many, had seen people who looked like themselves in other kingdoms, and had gone with them to discover the homes from which they were once taken. But not Catra. 

She had nowhere to go. And no one knew what to do with her. 

So she ended up tucked away. Hidden away where no one would run into her. In the spare room in the castle of Bright Moon. Forgotten, pardoned and not entirely forgiven. Eventually people started to get on with their lives. 

And stopped worrying about the half dead feral cat in the attic.

But then the days turned into weeks, and into months, and eventually, the topic of using the spare room for something else came up. 

Adora was still out of it, still not recovered from the injuries she had sustained in the war. Queen Glimmer had other duties. Bow was still terrified of Catra.

So in the end Netossa couldn’t stop herself. She was willing to try. Willing to offer a hand to the stranded cat. She knew peace could only truly last if there was reconciliation. This she was willing to do for her former enemy. 

It couldn’t possibly hurt, could it?

Netossa did not expect this to be easy. Spinnerella had advised against it. More than once. It really is a stupid idea. But Netossa couldn’t stop herself. 

She had been angry. They had all been angry. She was fed up with it, it didn’t help anyone anymore. The war was  _ over _ . It was time to move on. Time to  _ heal _ . She was willing to take the first steps. Even if they were baby steps, even if it was difficult. This was what was best for the whole community. The others would realize so too given enough time. 

She hoped.

The first time Netossa came by the spare room Catra hid in the corner like a scared animal. Netossa wasn’t sure what she had expected to see, but a scared cat sure wasn’t it.

_ These kids need help, _ was all Netossa could think.

The young woman seemed so much smaller now, all curled up in a ball on the floor, than she had appeared on the battlefield. When her eyes were filled with rage and hunger for blood. Those claws drawn ready to hurt, to kill. 

She had been an imposing figure then. She was none of that now. 

Pressed into a corner with her back against the wall, on the hard floor instead of using the large comfortable bed. Catra reminded Netossa of a cornered wild beast. But Netossa had encountered enough wild things to know when to keep your distance.

A cornered wild cat might lash out.

So the first time she entered the guest room she kept it very simple. She simply left a plate of food. Catra didn't touch it, didn’t stir from where she was hiding. Even though she probably should. She was even skinnier now than she had been before. When was the last time she had been fed?

“What did they feed you in the Horde?” Netossa’s voice sounded dry and harsh to her own ears. Catra did not respond.

Those blue and yellow eyes followed Netossa as she moved around the room. As she placed the tray on the side table. Until she finally gave up and left.

The second time Netossa came by she brought food again. And much to her disappointment, Catra had not touched the plate.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

The cat girl didn’t respond, and eventually Netossa decided to leave.

But by the fourth time, Catra had not only finished the food from the time before. She also did not hide, though she still wouldn't speak. The food had done her good, but her hair. That, that mane. It was in a sore state. The hair was tangled and messy.

Netossa wanted to deal with it. It was probably not a good idea.

How do you bathe a wildcat? Even a malnourished Catra would probably still have some strong will in her. Netossa let it be for now.

The sixth time she went to see Catra the silence was broken. Netossa wasn’t sure if it was just a “hey” or just a puff of air. But then Catra eyed the plate of nettle soup Netossa had brought. 

“Why is it liquid?”

“It’s  _ soup _ .”

The horde really lived up to their reputation. Had the girl never had soup before?

“‘Don’t like it.”

"Get food yourself then, missy." Netossa shot back, perhaps a bit harsher than she had meant it. But to that Catra was silent. 

Eventually Catra took the spoon in her hand and started eating.

The time after that Netossa couldn’t stop herself. She looked Catra straight in the eyes, and as she put the plate of food down, she said “You need to bathe.” As she had thought, Catra did not like the suggestion. 

“Your hair needs to be cleaned.”

Catra seemed to become silent at the mention of her hair.

By the 11th time Netossa came around Catra finally spoke longer sentences.

"Why do you want me to wash my hair? It just gets wet and takes forever to dry. And I hate brushing it."

"That's why. I don't think you should brush it," Netossa said. Happy to finally reason with her.

"What?"

"Isn't your hair curly?"

Catra looked surprised.

"I don't think so."

"I think it is."

Netossa couldn’t quite place the look in Catra’s eyes.

The following session Netossa brought some things for Catra's hair.

"I'm going to help you with your hair, okay? But you better behave."

" _ Tsk _ ."

"Here, take this and wash your hair with it. Then put a marble size portion from this bottle in your hair and finger comb out any tangles, rinse, and then come back out with your hair still wet and I'll help you style it."

" _ Style _ it'?! There’s more to this?"

"Or care for it, whatever you prefer to call it. What did you do in the horde?"

“Bar of soap and a brush.”

No wonder her hair was an actual  _ mane. _ Netossa would change that. With time. But first, bath.

Netossa cleaned the guest room while Catra took her bath. But she was quick, perhaps out of some horde military habit.

The guest bath gown was a little big on the small catgirl. She looked like a kid using one of their parents' clothing. Her hair was dripping wet still, soaking the robe that hung precariously on her shoulders. She looked like a half-drowned cat. 

Perhaps, she was one.

"Great,” Netossa said and went to get something out of her basket, ”Sit down in that chair"

Catra eyed her a little reluctantly.

“The sooner you do it the sooner I can be out of your hair,” Netossa said with a smile.

Catra sat down without a word. Netossa put some product on her hands and quickly distributed it through the cat’s hair. Then she grabbed it in clumps, and started pressing the water out of it. 

As Netossa rubbed her scalp, a small rumbling sound emitted from the girl's chest. She was purring. Netossa said nothing. Catra was finally still, her eyelids heavy, and she looked a little at peace. Netossa didn’t want to disturb her. As she finished up, she wrapped the hair in a soft scarf, securing it with a bow.

"Leave it in that wrap overnight, okay? I'll come by for breakfast tomorrow and show you the last step."

"It's a lot of steps for just hair."

"If it makes you feel good then it'll be worth it."

Catra looked at Netossa, and Netossa felt like it wasn’t her face she was eyeing.

"Do you seriously do this to your hair every day?"

"No, I only do it when I think it needs washing."

"Oh."

"G'night Catra."

"....'Night."

Netossa wasn’t sure what time Catra got up, and so, she had decided to get up early. Spinerella wasn’t even awake when Netossa slipped out of their bed. Somehow, she felt that this was something important.

  
Teaching her former enemy how to care for her hair. Teaching her stuff that those who raised her should have bothered with. But then again that’s why it turned out this way, right? The horde took kids before they were old enough to protest and shaped them into good soldiers. Willing to live and die for the expansion of the Horde’s territories. If they were well fed and had good hygiene didn’t matter.

Netossa was changing that. She was under no illusions that this would change Catra. But she hoped this would ease the transition into whatever peace would be for her.    
  


Sooner or later Catra had to leave the guest room, and find a home somewhere else in Etheria. Go out into a world she had once terrorized. And perhaps for the first time in her life, live only for herself.

The room was still dark when Netossa entered.

Catra's sleeping face was, to be honest, really cute. She was so still, and the harshness that she hid behind was nowhere to be seen. Netossa might even believe that she was at peace right now. She mumbled a little in her sleep, no real words, just hums and whines. Small, soft noises, that Netossa would have called snores if anyone had been around to hear her.

Netossa wondered what a child of the Horde saw in their dreams. Was the routine of the Horde a comfort? Like a mother’s open arms.

"'Morning Catra."

As soon as Catra woke the harshness returned to her face.

"Time to wake up."

Catra grunted, and yawned. At least she didn’t go into defensive mode.

"Is your hair dry?"

"I don't know."

"C'mere."

It was so satisfying. Releasing Catra's hair from the wrap proved what she had suspected all along. Catra's hair was full of long, wavy loose curls. The hair seemed much shorter now. She squeezed them gently and ruffled them a little to awaken them from their wrapped slumber.

"Here," she said, and grabbed Catra's clawed hand and put it up to her hair. "Do you feel it?"

"It feels different."

"Yes, they’re curls. Told you there were curls in that mane of yours."

"It's curly?"

"Yeah."

At that Catra turned to look into a nearby mirror, and she stared, baffled, at the reflection staring back. Besides the curls her hair was also much shinier, and hardly resembled way Catra’s hair usually looked.

“Is this some Bright Moon magic?” Catra said, shocked and startled.

“It’s just your hair when you don’t brush it and treat it nice, kiddo.”

The next few times Netossa came by Catra managed to care for her hair herself. And Netossa even stopped bringing her food, since Catra had found her own way to the Bright Moon kitchen.

The last time Netossa came round the room was empty. At first she was a little worried. She searched everywhere for her. Worrying that perhaps something had happened, or worse. But eventually she found where Catra had gone. In one of the hallways she heard a soft snoring. She followed it and it led her to Adora’s room. 

It took several moments for Netossa to process what she was seeing. She should have realized this would happen. But when she realized Catra was in Adora’s room, her mind had assumed they would be fighting.

They were, in fact, not fighting.

Not at all.

When she peered into the room. There Catra was, all curled up next to Adora. Sleeping soundly, with Adora’s arms wrapped tightly around her.


End file.
